During Autumnwatch’s visit I was lucky enough to spend quite a bit of time with the cameramen. One day I came back into the office: “he’s got a blummin brilliant job! Just been to Canada filming birds, then off to Scotland for salmon”. One of our volunteers simply said “You know most people think you’re job is pretty good too Al?” – I had to agree. It ain’t bad; today was one of those days that reminded me I really do have the best job in the world!

I started, after a rather chilly bike ride, by sharing breakfast with otters, starlings and a kingfisher in Public hide – perfect! Then it was off up the crag to do some proper work.

 Public Morning. Alasdair Grubb

Warton Crag is often neglected in our advertisement of the reserve, however in my opinion it is much more beautiful than the main reedbed. It is an area of limestone grassland/pavement with lovely patches of scrub and woodland interspersed. The views on offer are truly magnificent; the Yorkshire dales and Bowland to the east, Morecambe Bay to the south, and the gorgeous snow capped Lakeland hills to the west. Summer is the best time to see the crag itself (due to the fantastic variety of plant and insect life on offer), but when it comes to views, this time of year is hard to beat on a clear day; it’s a maze of paths up there but it’s not a bad place to get lost!

 Crag View. Alasdair Grubb

The reason for being up there today was to complete our autumn cutting programme. The limestone grassland needs active management to prevent trees taking over. The grazing cattle help to some extent, but they won’t eat much of the woody growth. Therefore it’s our job to go up there and cut back any scrub (blackthorn, hawthorn and bramble mostly) that is encroaching onto the ride. If the scrub was allowed to grow up too much, it would shade out the flowers, which provide essential nectar sources for the critically endangered butterfly species we manage for up there (high brown and pearl bordered fritillary, and northern brown argus). We then rake off the cut material to prevent the nutrients going back into the soil. If nutrient levels increase, the more dominant plant species will outcompete the rarer species that these butterlies depend on (in the case of northen brown argus, this is common rockrose - it's larval foodplant).

 Cutting. Alasdair Grubb

It always seems like a pretty mammoth task when we start (there’s such a huge area to cut!) and the steep slopes/rocky ground make it pretty hard going, but the sense of achievement at the end of a big job like this is brilliant - when you’ve got a view like this to finish it with, it’s even better!

 Lakeland Fells from Warton Crag. Alasdair Grubb

 And to top it all off, when I got back to Leighton, I popped up to the café and Michael had a slice of cake waiting for me! You can keep your fancy cameras, trips to Canada, all I need is a view of The Bay and The Lakes, a successful job and a slice of orange drizzle cake. Like I said, the best job in the world!